Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
EFA vs USHY: Differences, Returns & Fees
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, EFA returned +12.1% to USHY's +1.7%; 0% of their weight is in the same names.
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Net assets on Oct 27, 2026: $76.8bn for iShares MSCI EAFE ETF and $26.3bn for iShares Broad USD High Yield Corporate Bond ETF.
Pair scorecard
USHY costs 0.24 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 10.4 points; EFA is 2.9 times larger.
| Measure | EFA | USHY |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +12.1% | +1.7% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Below its high | 4.7%, high on Aug 25, 2026 | |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | MSCI EAFE Index | ICE BofA US High Yield Constrained Index |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.32% | 0.08% |
| Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 | $76.8bn | $26.3bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 0% | |
| In the S&P 500, by weight | 0% | |
| Top ten holdings, share of the fund | 14.3% | |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated Oct 27, 2026. Method
Risk and return
Nov 3, 2017 to Oct 23, 2026 · 468 weekly returnsEach against its own benchmark: EFA against ACWX, Apr 11, 2008 to Oct 23, 2026; USHY against SPHY, Nov 3, 2017 to Oct 23, 2026.
EFA returned more: +92.5% to +47.3%. USHY swung less: 9.7% to 17.6%. USHY fell less at its worst: −21.9% to −33.4%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | EFA | USHY | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +92.5% | +47.3% | EFA | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +7.5% | +4.4% | EFA | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | +47.0% | −14.9% | EFA | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 17.6% | 9.7% | USHY | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 12.5% | 6.8% | USHY | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −33.4% | −21.9% | USHY | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Upside capture | 95.1% | 104.0% | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. | |
| Downside capture | 97.5% | 103.7% | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. | |
| Beta | 0.96 | 1.07 | Not an edge | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.96 | 0.95 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 0.35 | 0.21 | EFA | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 0.49 | 0.30 | EFA | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Treynor | 0.055 | 0.019 | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. | |
| Calmar | 0.23 | 0.20 | EFA | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
| Against the benchmark | ||||
| Benchmark | ACWX | SPHY | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | +0.5% a year | −0.1% a year | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | 0.53 | −0.10 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. |
| Alpha range | −1.4% to +2.4% | −1.5% to +1.4% | Includes zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. |
| Information ratio | 0.08 | 0.03 | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 4.2% | 2.3% | Not an edge | How far weekly returns stray from the benchmark, annualized. |
Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 468 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
What they share
By the books each fund has filed, EFA and USHY hold 0% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Oct 27, 2026.
half
0% in common
Only in one fund ↓
Side by side
EFA and USHY on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
EFA and USHY do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?
- What each follows. EFA follows MSCI EAFE Index and USHY follows ICE BofA US High Yield Constrained Index.
- Holdings in common. 0% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Oct 27, 2026).
- One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 EFA returned +12.1% and USHY +1.7% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 10.4 points.
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
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EFA
EFA tracks an index of Developed markets ex US. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +12.1% with distributions reinvested, against +14.3% for its benchmark, the MSCI ACWI ex USA Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.32% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026, 0% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 665 positions, with the top ten at 14.3%. It sat 4.7% below its high of Aug 25, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.
USHY
USHY tracks an index of Broad USD High Yield Corporate Bond. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +1.7% with distributions reinvested, against +1.8% for its benchmark, the ICE BofA US High Yield Constrained Index, measured by the closely related ICE BofA US High Yield Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.08% a year.
Questions people ask
- Which returned more over the last year, EFA or USHY?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, EFA returned +12.1% and USHY +1.7%.
- Which is cheaper, EFA or USHY?
- USHY is cheaper, by 0.24 percentage points a year. That is about $24 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
Links are sources, not endorsements. A comparison is not a recommendation.
How this is computed
Overlap adds up the smaller of the two weights for each security both funds hold.
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ETFIQ, EFA against USHY, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/efa-vs-ushy
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). EFA against USHY. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/efa-vs-ushy
[EFA against USHY (ETFIQ, Oct 28, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/efa-vs-ushy)
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